My thoughts on the Phillies season.

2010 National League Divisional Series, Game # 2: The
Phils pounce on several Reds mistakes to take a 2-0 lead in
the series as they come from behind to win, 7-4.

The Phils’ offense capitalize on several Reds miscues while the bullpen shut down the Reds’ offense as the Phils come from behind to win, 7-4. The victory gives the Phils a 2-0 lead in the divisional series.

The Reds took the lead right at the start of the game as Brandon Phillips hits a lead-off home run, his first home run of the post-season, as the Reds take a 1-0 lead. The Reds added to their lead in the second as, with two men on, and with one man out, Laynce Nix, who was earlier safe at first on a Chase Utley throwing error, then moved up to second on Roy Oswalt’s wild pitch, scored on Utley’s second throwing error of the inning, as he threw away the ball as he attempted to double up Ryan Hanigan at first, after forcing out Drew Stubbs, who had earlier walked, at second base, 6-4, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead, while Hanigan, who was safe at first, went to second on the errant throw. The Reds then made it a 3-0 lead in the fourth as Jay Bruce hits a lead-off home run, his first home run of the post-season. The Reds then made it a 4-0 lead in the fifth as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Joey Votto hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Phillips, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Paul Janish’s sacrifice bunt. The Phils then began their comeback, while the bullpen shut down the Reds’ offense for the next four innings. In their half of the fifth, they cut the Reds’ lead in half as, with the bases loaded, and with two men out, Utley hits a two-run single, knocking in Dom Brown, who was earlier safe at first on a 6-4 force out as Raul Ibanez, who had earlier singled, is wiped out at second base for the inning’s first out, reached second on Phillip’s fielding error of Shane Victorino’s grounder, then stopped at third on Scott Rolen’s fielding error of Placido Polanco’s grounder, and Victorino, who was safe at first on Phillip’s error, then reached second on Rolen’s error of Polanco’s grounder, making it a 4-2 Reds’ lead, while Polanco, who was safe at first on Rolen’s error, stopped at third. The Phils then made it a 4-3 Reds’ lead in the sixth as, once again with the bases loaded, this time via a walk to Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz being hit by a pitch, sending Werth up to second base, and pinch hitter Ben Francisco also being hit by a pitch, moving up a base both Werth and Ruiz, and with two men out, Victorino forces in a run with a walk, forcing in Werth, while Ruiz and Francisco both moved up a base. The Phils then took the lead in the seventh as, with two men on, and with one man out, Jimmy Rollins reached base on a Bruce fielding error as he missed the ball in the right field lights (or among the rally towels), allowing Utley, who had got on base earlier as he was hit by the pitch (although it is possible that he might not had been hit by the ball) and was then safe at second on Rolen’s force out attempt on Werth’s grounder (he might have been out, but it is inconclusive), followed by Werth, who was safe at first on a force out attempt, thanks to Phillips’ missed catch error of the throw back into the infield, giving the Phils a 5-4 lead, while Rollins would stop at second base. Two batters latter, with a runner on third, as Rollins’ went to third on Ibanez’s single, Ruiz hits an RBI grounder, as he hit into a 6-4 force out, wiping out Ibanez at second for the inning’s second out, while Rollins scores, making it a 6-4 Phils’ lead. The Phils would add an insurance run in the eighth as, with two men on and with one man out, Werth hits an RBI single, knocking in Utley, who had earlier singled, then stole second base, giving the Phils a 7-4 lead, while sending Ryan Howard, who had just been intentionally walked, would move up to second. That would be the final score as Brad Lidge threw a scoreless ninth, getting his first save of the post-season, as he gets Chris Heisey to end the game by grounding out, 5-3.

Roy Oswalt gets a no-decision as he pitches five innings, giving up four runs, only three of which were earned, on five hits and a walk, while striking out five. J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin combine for a scoreless inning, giving up a walk between them. Jose Contreras gets the win as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. His record is now 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Ryan Madson get his first hold of the post-season as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while he strikeouts a batter. Brad Lidge receives his first save of the post-season as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a walk. Bronson Arroyo also receives a no-decision as he pitches five and a third inning, giving up three runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits and three walks. Arthur Rhodes collects his first hold of the post-season as he pitches a third of an inning, hitting a batter, while striking out one. Logan Ondrusek also collects his first hold of the post-season as he pitches a third of an inning, also hitting a batter and walking a batter. Aroldis Chapman records his first blown save of the post-season before getting the lost as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up three unearned runs on two hits and a hit batter, while striking out a batter. His record is now 0-1 with a 0.00 ERA. Nick Masset pitches an inning and a third, giving up a run on two hits and two walks.

The Phils had eight hits in the game, with Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez all leading the team with two hits each, all singles, with Utley knocking in two runs, while Werth knocked in a run. Ryan Howard and pinch hitter Mike Sweeney had the other two Phils’ hits, both singles. Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz both had an RBI, Victorino’s via a bases loaded walk and Ruiz’s via a force out. The other two Phils’ runs came in on a pair of errors on the same play. The Phils’ offense took advantage, once again, of another team’s mistakes.

The Phils (2-0) have the day off today, before meeting the Reds (0-2) on Sunday in Cincinnati for the third game of the best of five divisional series, looking for a sweep.

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